Crosby hoped Tucker's kick wouldn't go wide right

Green Bay - Like the rest of his teammates, Packers K Mason Crosby was thrilled to see Baltimore's Justin Tucker lift his 61-yard field goal attempt just over the crossbar to beat the Detroit Lions Monday night.

But he admitted that watching the kick on television he thought it might go wide right.

"It was surprising in the moment watching, it was kind of drifting toward that right post and then had just a little action toward the left, a little draw at the end and caught it right at the corner," Crosby said Wednesday. "He has a ball flight that moves a little bit from right to left.

"When it came off his foot he was probably like, 'Oop.' I just can assume that with how he trusts that his ball is going to move that way."

Crosby knows Ford Field well and just three games ago hit a 54-yard field there in the Packers' 40-10 loss. It was Crosby's second-longest field goal of the season behind only his 57-yarder against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.

Crosby tends to hit all of his field goals at about the same height, but he said he was not surprised that Tucker's kick was high even though it needed to travel 61 yards.

"He hit under it," Crosby said. "But obviously he had the leg to get it there. For those, you don’t think on those – especially inside – that 'OK, I’ve got to drive this.' Anything inside 65, you’re going to be like all right, just hit a good ball, consistent, make that good contact because as long as you hit a good ball, you can smash one that goes really high. It doesn’t have to be driven."

Crosby had a pretty impressive kick himself this past weekend.

With the Cowboys ahead, 3-0, coach Mike McCarthy decided to let Crosby try from 57 yards on the Packers' opening series. Crosby nailed it so well that it probably would have been good from another 5 to 10 yards out. It stands as the longest kick in AT&T Stadium history.

"Watching the kick at the Cowboys, the way it came off my foot and the elevation I got on it, all the things considered, probably one of my better kicks of the year," he said. "I felt really good how I hit it. My rhythm, my tempo, everything, the ball was really smooth."

Crosby is hitting 88.% of his field goals this year (30 of 34), which normally would put him high in the rankings, but field-goal accuracy has been extraordinary this season with four kickers hitting 95% or better, including Tucker who is at 95%. Crosby ranks tie for 16th.

On attempts of 50 or more yards, Crosby ranks seventh among those with at least five tries with 5 of 7. Tucker has hit 6 of 7. Carolina's Graham Gano leads all kickers with 6 of 6.

About Tom Silverstein

Tom Silverstein has covered the Green Bay Packers since 1989. He is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year award winner.